Friday, June 27, 2014

On a quest to find the Urban Bobolink (Ottawa)

As mentioned in a previous post, I had read about sightings of bobolinks by Dave Collyer from an online post of Manor Park News in 2006 and I was wondering if it was still around. Pretty amazing sighting of this grassland bird in a more urban setting if it is still here!

I thought I heard it on Monday in the field between the Rockcliffe Parkway and Sandridge Road (there's a path down the middle of the field for dogwalkers). Using my binoculars I spotted a black bird with unusual markings in the top of a dead tree on the edge of the field close to Sandridge and Placel but it was a faint shadowed view through my binocular lens. I had no camera that day to take a picture and confirm the sighting.

I went out with my camera today and couldn't find it in that field. Was wondering if it was in another field close by (or perhaps up at the old Rockcliffe Base?) so I went to the Airport-Marina Road and I ended up finding it in a narrow strip between the Aviation Pathway and the Rockcliffe Airport fence line.

Why Dandelions?

An Urban Ecology Scrapbook

It all started in 2006 when I bought a house. At first it was an interest in creating a butterfly garden and then it blossomed into a backyard organic vegetable patch. Next I was eagerly reading about hedgerows and native bee condos and finally I went back to school in 2011 for Ecological Restoration hoping to combine my love for ecology with my urban planning degree.

I have always loved what a city can offer but with my new found interests in the natural world I was wondering how we can be more connected to nature, support a biodiverse environment and live in harmony with the planet all while LIVING AN URBAN LIFE.

This is my scrapbook of interesting ideas and articles that I have found online, where I can collect links and information as I learn from others in cyberspace about possible urban nature habitat, how cities can benefit from natural ecosystems (and enhance them!) and creative ways to build and adapt our cities to be more in balance with the natural ecosystem that is around us and THAT ULTIMATELY IS US.